✔ choosing you - old ver.

choice seven

hu tao pov:

its now December 21, and we've been on Christmas break for a little while now. I've been sleeping over at yanfei's more than usual, and so we've gotten a lot closer. xiao is still being a loner, but I have my sources to figure out that venti has been coming over uninvited to his house. ganyu has been doing her job, working under one of the teachers, Mr. Zhongli, along with a girl named keqing. 

it's been a busy year so far, but it's been fun. though, venti has seemed a little off around xiao, and I can't help but assume it isn't love. yeah, they're acting like a old married couple half the time, but I don't see xiao in love with venti. venti, I'm assuming doesn't like him. though of course, venti still acted the same as he did before, but he's noticeably different around xiao. ganyu noticed it too! she may have some memory issues, but even so she's still very observant.

besides that, I invited myself over to xiao's house, to have a sleepover. I've actually never been in his room, he's always so secretive about it. so, I've decided to take liberty and ..sneak? into his room. yeah yeah I can already hear yanfei lecturing me. "hu tao, its his space! plus that's breaking the law of-" blah, blah, blah. I know, but why would he not let anybody in his room if there wasn't something he was hiding! he's totally suspicious.

at about 7 o'clock, I walked my way over to xiao's house. it's a 20 minute walk, but I don't have a car so I don't have a choice. my phone buzzed, so I quickly got it out, seeing the time was 7:15, and I saw a notification reading: message from 'emo boy with an attitude' I read what he said as I continued to walk again.

emo boy with an attitude: where are you? its been 15 minutes, your supposed to be here by now.

me: I'm walking so it may be another 10 minutes!! and xiaoxiao are you worried about me????

seen.

me: WAHHH XIAO DONT LEAVE ME SREN!

emo boy with an attitude: it's seen* and are you walking?

me: yup!! I don't have a car atm :))

emo boy with an attitude: ok.

me: ILL SEE YOU SOON <3333

seen.

I chuckled, setting my phone back into my pocket. I was wearing black loosely fitted jeans, a red button up shirt and I had my signature hat on, along with my normal two pigtails. it's a hairstyle that has always fitted me, and I personally like it, so why stop now?

I continued walking along until I saw the road that split into two, either right or left. going straight is a cliff. xiao lives to the left, so that's the way I headed. since Childe is..loaded, they have a pretty nice house right on the road, having a beautiful view over the town.

 I skipped my way to their front door, ringing the doorbell 5 times in a row before xiao answered. "you don't have to ring the doorbell that much." he said, letting me in. I shrugged, walking into the clean house.

"it's fun." I smiled, taking my shoes off my feet. xiao sighed, closing the door. 

"you hungry or anything? I have some food I made for dinner." he said, turning to me.

 "hmm," I hummed, putting a hand on my chin. "what did you make?" xiao walked past me and into the kitchen. 

"I made almond tofu," he said, opening the fridge and taking a small portion of the dish out. "here, I can warm it up for you." I stared at him before nodding and sitting down in one of the stools of the island.

he was being weirdly considerate today, what happened? it's weird to have him do something for me. 

"oh, that reminds me," I started, looking up. "weren't you supposed to say hello to the yaksha today?" I smiled. "did you put them aside for me?" the yakasha where a group consisting of 5 people including xiao. you could say its a gang, but they don't do bad things.

 they just hangout and do..normal things, they even have occasional study groups. the four of them, not including xiao, do a lot of community service and they loved helping people. xiao did too, but he wasn't so open about it. 

all five of them have known each other since they where 4, and they always hangout at least once a week, usually without xiao. he stayed silent for a moment, watching the microwave spin in circles. 

"no." he said. my smile faded as I heard his voice. "hey, what happened?" I asked, standing up. "xiao, whats wrong?" I asked again, walking over to him. his voice, it was full of pain. "xi-" the microwave suddenly beeped, interrupting my sentence. he quickly opened the microwave and pulled out the plate of food.

 "c'mon, eat this already." he said, setting the plate on the table. I stared, but ended up following along with him. i started eating, taking the spoon and slowly eating the food xiao has graciously given me. xiao but a hand to his head. 

"they're dead." he said, his voice level, no visible cracking or anything, but boy, to me, he was upset. 

"who's dead?" I asked, clearly not understanding. 

"the yaksha." I paused, my spoon suddenly dropping. my mouth opened, but for once I couldn't speak.

+

heh xiao's friends be dead- sorry for not updating, AND HOLY SHI- I looked at the reads and- one thousand....one thousand...what...??? I love you guys so much thank you holy crap, ILL TRY HARDER!